![]() Over the past few decades, it has occurred most during the summer months in Victoria. Movement of an animal that has been exposed but is not yet sick (incubating anthrax) can also spread anthrax to new properties, paddocks and areas.Īnthrax can occur at any time of the year. Once a case of anthrax has occurred, further animals may also become infected by sniffing or licking a recent anthrax-infected carcass. ![]() ![]() ![]() Usually only a small number of deaths occur on each affected farm. In Victoria, most of these cases have been in northern parts of the state and involved cattle and sheep, although other species are also at risk. Spores of the anthrax bacteria, Bacillus anthracis, can lie dormant in the soil for decades and are capable of infecting animals which graze on contaminated areas.Īnthrax is known to occur intermittently in grazing livestock and there have been sporadic cases in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland in recent decades. It was widely spread across pastoral areas by travelling livestock. Prior to the availability of an effective vaccine, anthrax was a major cause of mortalities in sheep and cattle. Anthrax was probably introduced into Australia in the early 1880s by contaminated fertiliser imported from the Indian sub-continent. What is anthrax?Īnthrax is an infectious bacterial disease, caused by the spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis.Īnthrax has been recognised in Australia as a cause of sudden death in farm animals, particularly sheep and cattle for more than 150 years. It can affect humans and a wide range of animals however nearly all cases in Victoria have been seen in livestock, particularly cattle and sheep. He was hospitalized for a month, but has since returned to drum-making, according to the Times.Anthrax is an infectious bacterial disease of animals, caused by the spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis. A drummer from New York City became ill with inhalational anthrax after a performance in Pennsylvania. Human-to-human transmission is rare and generally can occur only when patients have draining lesions.Īfrican hides used in drum-making were also linked to an anthrax case in 2006. The infection resolves with antibiotic treatment. Anthrax is primarily an animal disease, but naturally occurring cutaneous and inhalational anthrax infections in humans can sometimes result from handling the meat, hair, or hides of infected animals.īernadette Burden, a spokeswoman for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Times that only one or two anthrax cases occur each year in the United States.Ĭutaneous anthrax, caused by Bacillus anthracis spores, typically appears as a skin ulcer surrounded by painless swelling. The New Haven office of the FBI said terrorism was not suspected, the Times report said.Īnthrax spores are found in soil in many parts of the world. Samples from the patients' home and a backyard barn tested positive for anthrax, and health officials gathered more samples for additional testing, said Rachel Sunny, a spokeswoman for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection who was quoted in a Sep 7 follow-up story in the Times. William Gerrish, a spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Health, said the two patients were recovering and that officials were testing their contacts to see if anyone else was exposed, according to a Sep 5 New York Times report. Media reports said the two people are members of the same family, and one uses animal hides to make and restore drums. (CIDRAP News) – Two people from Danbury, Conn., were recently diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax infections, probably because of exposure to spores on untanned animal hides brought from Africa. ![]()
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